The second leg of the 2009 AMSOIL/Street Rodder Road Tour series is a cruise from the Vintage Air Headquarters in San Antonio, Texas to the NHRA Hot Rod Reunion at Beach Bend Park in Bowling Green, Kentucky. I left my home in Youngstown, Ohio on Wednesday morning with plans for a few stops along the way to San Antonio. It is a 1500 mile drive from Northeastern Ohio to Vintage Air and the Hot Rod Magazine Power Tour was scheduled to be in Dayton Ohio on Wednesday afternoon as they traveled from Racine, Wisconsin to Bristol, Tennessee. I had been invited to stop by in Dayton and say hi to the crowd.
I arrived at the University of Dayton area at 2PM Wednesday and the crowds and the cars had already gathered. With almost 2000 vehicles rolling on the Power Tour it was quite a scene. It was fun to get up on stage and say hello to the participants and give them an idea of what the AMSOIL/Street Rodder Road Tour is all about. Everyone loved our 1952 Chevy Road Tour sedan. By 5PM I was off and headed south. I spent Wednesday night in Elizabethtown, Kentucky. Thursday I made a brief stop in Campbellsville, Kentucky where my mother grew up and I had spend many summers as a young boy.
Thursday evening I was in Hot Springs, Arkansas and Friday I rolled into Austin, Texas where I soon realized that there were 85,000 motorcycles in town for the Republic of Texas Rally. The town was covered with bikes and it was fun to see the way some other folks enjoy their vehicles. By Saturday morning it was time to get to San Antonio and the start of the Vintage Air Tour.
Jack Chisenhall and Rick Love from Vintage Air have been great supporter of the Road tour series and each year for the last four years they have put together a Tour in June from their headquarters in San Antonio. We have traveled to the LA Roadster's Father's Day Show a number of times and last year we drove to the NHRA Hot Rod Reunion. We had a great time and the Vintage Air folks decided that we should make a return visit to Bowling Green. Almost 40 vehicles were signed up to join in this year's fun.
The traditional wiener roast and get together was held at the Vintage Air Headquarter on Saturday night. National Sales Manager George Packard did another fine job on the grill and there were lots of familiar faces in the crowd. Rick Love addressed the crowd and introduced Street Rodder Publisher Tim Foss who is traveling on the Tour with his family. Also introduced was hot rod legend Tom Medley who was gain joining us on the Tour and would be traveling with Vintage Air President Jack Chistenhall.
Sunday morning it was time to roll. After our 7:30 driver's meeting almost 40 vehicles headed east on I-10 toward Houston. It was scheduled to be another hot day with temps hovering at 100 degrees. Our destination for lunch was the San Jacinto Battlefield Grounds and the Battleship, Texas. We had a great lunch at the Monument Inn Restaurant and spent about two hours getting a great look at the Battleship Texas which is the only ship to have served in combat in World War One, World War Two and the Korean War. By 3PM it was time to continue east.
We arrived in Lake Charles, Louisiana about 5 after a long hot but fun day on the road. Tomorrow we are going to visit Avery Island the home of Tabasco Pepper Sauce and have lunch at the famous Mulate's Cajun Restaurant in Beau Bridge, Louisiana. Our destination for the evening is Vidalia, Louisiana. It sounds like another hot day on the Vintage Air Tour. Check back here for all the latest updates as we travel to the NHRA Hot Rod Reunion.
Jerry Dixey